Colorado snow is lagging but has time to catch up

DENVER — Snowfall in the Colorado mountains is lagging this season, but forecasters say the winter is young and there's plenty of time to catch up.
The snowpack statewide was 73 percent of the long-term average as of midweek. It ranges from 90 to 98 percent in the south and southeast parts of...

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DENVER — Snowfall in the Colorado mountains is lagging this season, but forecasters say the winter is young and there's plenty of time to catch up.

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The snowpack statewide was 73 percent of the long-term average as of midweek. It ranges from 90 to 98 percent in the south and southeast parts of Colorado to just 63 percent in the northwest corner.

The jet stream has been steering snow to the south of Colorado and cold weather to the north, despite La Nina conditions that would normally bring the storms over Colorado, said Kyle Fredin, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Boulder.

The pattern could shift back to normal in mid-January, bringing more snow, he said.

"With the climatology favoring (snow) January through April, there's still a lot of snow season left," Fredin said.

Klaus Wolter, a climatologist at the University of Colorado and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said Colorado won't see a repeat of last season, which brought record snowfall to some parts of the mountains.

The last four to six weeks have been dry, but Colorado has had five snowstorms since October, he said.